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Marcusen Park has a way of bringing people together again.

Lyle-Pacelli grad Daniel Bollingberg has found his way back to the ballpark in the midst of a much awaited homecoming and new life and Southland grad Harrison Hanna is back on the field in his quest to get back to baseball after a horrific injury just a few months ago.

Both players played key roles for the Austin Greyhounds as they pounded out 16 hits in a 16-6 win over the Owatonna Aces in Marcusen Park Wednesday night.

Bollingberg, who was Class A Baseball Player of the Year in his senior year at L-P in 2016, is back in Austin after recently welcoming his first son with his wife Courtney (Walter) Bollingberg, who is also a former L-P standout athlete. 

Bollingberg went four-for-four with a double and an RBI and his younger brother Zach went two-for-four with three RBIs for the Hounds (9-2 overall, 8-0 District).

“It’s super fun to be back. It’s good to be back home and having my son Hudson watch me gives me a little extra motivation,” Daniel said. “It’s great to get back out here and play with my brother and a bunch of other guys that I grew up playing with. It’s something that I want Hudson to be able to see so he can learn to love it like I did.”

Daniel came back to Austin just in time to see L-P advance to its first ever Class A state baseball tournament. He played for L-P head coach Brock Meyer in high school and L-P assistant coach and current Greyhound Jordan Hart, who went three-for-five with a double and an RBI on Wednesday, was a high school teammate of Daniel’s.

“Brock came in with almost nothing and he’s put in a ton of work and Jordan’s been awesome as well,” Daniel said. “Those guys have put in so much time and to finally get to the state tournament, that was an awesome run for them and something they can definitely build on.”

Hanna drew a walk and scored two runs for the Hounds. He’s just happy to be on the field after he sustained a brutal eye injury during his freshman season with the Riverland Community College baseball team this past spring. Hanna was hit in the eye with a line drive in practice and his time playing baseball was almost gone in an instant.

“It’s nice to be back out here. Just playing baseball is nice,” Hanna said. “Everything happened so fast (at Riverland). One second I was on the field and the other second I was in the ER. I’m very lucky to come out with my vision intact. When I was in the ER, they sent me right to Rochester to a vision specialist. It didn’t look too pretty right away, but as time went on it healed pretty well. I’m lucky to be playing.”

Players like Hanna and the Bollingbergs have the Hounds thinking they can do big things this summer. The team is already off to a strong start with hopes of continued improvement.

“Playing with these guys is super fun and it gets me ready for college as well,” Hanna said. “Being on the mounds and getting reps is huge.”

Aces 102  100  20  –   6     7  4

Hounds 420  103  42  –  16  16  2

Hounds pitching: Alex Ciola (W) 5 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 ER, 4 K, 1 HBP; Zach Bollingberg, 3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 K, HBP

Hounds hitting: Alex Ciola, 1-for-3, R, BB; Jordan Hart, 3-for-5, double, RBI, 3 R; Nestor Jimenez, 2-for-4, R, BB; Riley Retterath, 1-for-3, RBI, R; Daniel Bollingberg, 4-for-4, double, RBI, 4 R, BB; Teyghan Hovland, 2-for-4, RBI, R, BB; Zach Bollingberg, 2-for-4, 3 RBIs, R, SB, BB; Tony Ciola, 1-for-2, double, RBI, 2 BBs; Andrew Schumacher, 0-for-1; Harrison Hanna, 2 R, BB; Sam Nelsen, 0-for-3; Jordan Ransom, 1-for-1, 2 R; Mark Harper, RBI, HBP